St. Bernadette fish fry larger than ever after merger

St. Bernadette’s in Monroeville has a new parish name and new faces at its fish fry.

The parish at 245 Azalea Drive is now called Christ the Divine Shepherd. The Catholic Diocese of Pittsburgh formally changed the name this year.

It’s a merger of St. Bernadette, North American Martyrs in Monroeville and the Penn Hills parishes of St. Gerard Majella, St. Susanna and St. Bartholomew.

Its fish fry is open from 4:30-7 p.m. every Friday during Lent except for Good Friday.

Kathie Forrest has been a St. Bernadette parishioner for decades. She helps with the fish fry bake sale and said there’s a difference this year in the volunteers and patrons.

“With the five churches, everyone’s meeting new people and I think that’s cool,” Forrest said. “It’s like we’re a new family.”

People who plan to have desserts such as pecan and lemon meringue pies, carrot cake and cookies should get them first because they sell out every night.

Anne Marie Diroll is one of the newcomers. She hailed from North American Martyrs.

“We’re all Catholics. We should all come together as one,” Diroll said. “This used to be a big Catholic area. Now it’s getting less and less. You’ve got to combine the people to make one parish. One parish will not make it with a handful of people. I’m kind of a newbie on the block, so I’m trying to get to know the people. Most of the people have been welcoming.”

Diroll said NAM still has Mass but does not have a fish fry anymore. She proposed having one at NAM for lunch and keeping St. Bernadette’s for dinner.

Fish fry volunteer coordinator Matt Valentine said at least 10 out of the 50 volunteers at the event are from outside St. Bernadette. The operation still moves as efficiently as ever.

“We cook a piece a fish about every 10 to 15 seconds,” he said. “That may be about as much as we can cook because we’re only here two and a half hours. We’ve talked about expanding our hours. We’ve got people that have been in the food and beverage industry that help organize the food ordering and make sure that we have enough of everything. They’re fantastic.”

Serra Catholic High School students like sophomore Kyera O’Brien, 15, of Turtle Creek, also volunteer as meal servers and take out preparers.

“People are friendly and they are open to help you if you need it,” O’Brien said. “It’s gotten a lot bigger and busier. It makes me more comfortable to come here (with friends).”

The biggest fish sandwich is called the “Gargotta” named after the parish’s former pastor the Rev. Tony Gargotta. It comes complete with coleslaw, cheese and french fries.

The parish’s fish fry is fairly high-tech when it comes to ordering and tracking inventory.

Volunteers in the front use iPads to place the orders. That info is then sent to the kitchen, where folks like Frank Bozicevic track the items so they know what is still in stock and what’s cooked.

Organizers can track how much food is sold much easier than before. It also helps with takeout orders and scheduling pickups.

“I’m constantly looking at inventory,” Bozicevic said. “All the orders are here (in the database). They tell me the order number and I close it so that we know what orders are closed and what is still outstanding. The whole thing is automated.”

Bozicevic said they sold about 2,900 pieces of fish last year and are projecting more this year.

Proceeds go into the parish’s general fund and used for numerous programs.

Finance chairman Bob Dentino said they made about $40,000 last year after expenses. “We always want to surpass what we’ve done the past year,” he said.

Beer and wine is available. A surcharge-free ATM is in the lobby.

People can place take-out orders from 3:30-6:30 p.m. by calling 412-843-0668. More information is available online at cdsfishfry.org.